Lights twinkle from the rooftops of houses, holiday music streams from every radio station, people bustle through malls in search of the perfect gifts and ballerinas slip on their pointe shoes. The holiday season is in full effect, but it isn't complete without an annual production of "The Nutcracker."

Holly Holmes, a graduate student in the OU School of Dance, said the holidays just wouldn't be the holidays without the classical ballet.

"Christmas definitely needs 'The Nutcracker,'" Holmes said. "People need to make it a tradition because it's definitely worth seeing every year. It gets you into the spirit of Christmas."

Toys come to life in 'Nutcracker' ballet The ballet features OU students, local children and professionals.

Peter Gill - Daily Staff Writer December 04, 2003

OU’s Oklahoma Festival Ballet will open its annual performance run of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” tonight.

Oklahoma Festival Ballet is made up of OU students and faculty. They will perform with the OU orchestra and local children dancers for this year’s production. Also dancing this year are guests Davis Robertson and Astrit Zejnati, both professional dancers visiting the school.

Ballet performance senior Courtney Leon said the performance this year is nice because it’s on a professional level. She dances the role of the Snow Queen as well as other minor roles.

A normal Nutcracker performance often has lots of kids, Leon said. Here, OU students make up most of the cast, creating a professional environment, and the orchestra and large, traditional Rupel Jones Theatre add to the environment.

I've had class with Joe... he's a great guy and has improved over the last year and a half more than anyone i've seen...

Another challengeBallet sophomore Joseph Ensign moves from military to ballet.

Haley Smith - Daily Staff Writer December 11, 2003

Joseph Ensign plays the Mouse King in the OU School of Dance's "The Nutcracker." Joseph Ensign is following in the dancing footsteps of famous performers such as Fred Astaire and Gene Kelley. Like these former seamen, Ensign has traded in his Navy dungarees for ballet tights.

This brought on a challenge Ensign welcomed, he said.

"I always kind of lost interest in things if they weren't challenging," the ballet sophomore said of his various activities.

The most recent of Ensign's endeavors are his roles in OU School of Dance's "The Nutcracker." He dances the parts of the Mouse King, a party parent, Soldier Doll and an Arabian. These roles present a greater challenge to Ensign than to an average OU ballet student because he has only been dancing two years.

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